Arsene Wenger's relief in North
London yesterday drew him from his seat with the kind of radiant smile
not seen before at the Emirates Stadium over the past eight days.

For good measure, the Frenchman
pumped his fist at the ground not once, but twice, to greet the second
goal of the afternoon from Santi Cazorla the outstanding player in an
Arsenal shirt on a day when nothing less than victory could lighten the
darkness enveloping the club.

Only five minutes before the Arsenal
supporters would have reason to vent their spleen for the third match in
succession, having endured the bitter disappointment of being ejected
from the FA Cup by Blackburn and having been enforced to bear witness to
just how far Arsenal have declined on the European stage after Bayern
Munich had delivered a footballing master class in North London in
midweek.

Wenger was perhaps under pressure as never before. He is no longer revered for his years of success and innovation at Arsenal.

Instead he has spent the past week
in the stocks of public opinion. All manner of critics have rushed to
dismiss him as an irrelevance in today's footballing world.

The clamour for regime change has been the soundtrack of the past week. Yesterday, Cazorla spoke for him on the pitch.

Then, Wenger spoke for himself
afterwards.. 'I'm not 30 years in this job at the top level to be
destroyed by people saying I don't know what I am doing,' he said.

The passion in his voice reflected the hurt he has felt.

'I am proud of the attitude of the
team,' he added. 'We went through some difficult days, some dreadful
times, of course. A draw would have been a very bad result for us – but
we came through. We cannot drop points, no matter where we are or who
we play.'

Respite may be brief, though. Next
Sunday, Wenger will be driven the short journey across North London into
the Tottenham High Road aboard the Arsenal team coach.

Another afternoon of misery cannot be
discounted. Much has happened at Arsenal – little of it generating
cause for great optimism – since they defeated Spurs 5-2 after former
Gunner Emmanuel Adebayor had been sent off.

Victory over Aston Villa may have
moved Arsenal to within one point of fourth-placed Spurs, but their arch
rivals have an opportunity to stretch that gap when they play West Ham
at Upton Park tomorrow.

The importance of the game to Wenger at White Hart Lane a week today cannot be over-estimated.

His mission statement is to deliver
Champions League football next season, as he has done throughout his
16-year tenure at Arsenal.

Furious: Arsene Wenger was unhappy with Aston Villa's equaliser

It might be construed as a humble
ambition for a man who has won the Premier league title three times, and
come up just one game short in the Champions League, against Barcelona
in the final of 2006.

But the reality is Wenger now manages a club without the resources of Manchester City, Chelsea, nor Manchester United.

'We are playing catch-up in the
Premier League table, and the key for us is to be consistent,' said
Wenger, who dropped Lukas Podolski, Aaron Ramsey and Laurent Koscielny
from midweek with Bacary Sagna missing through injury.

For the second time in a week Stan
Kroenke, the club's notoriously silent major shareholder from the United
States, took his seat in the directors' box.

Winner: Santi Cazorla scored his second goal in the 85th minute to earn three points for Arsenal

Crucial: Cazorla celebrates his winning goal

He is known to support Wenger and will not be easily persuaded to alter that position.

Even so, Kroenke will have been
relieved the paying customers went home in better mood last night.
Cazorla's contribution even shaded the energetic and committed
performance of Jack Wilshere.

The little Spaniard has now scored 11 goals in the Premier league since his £12million transfer from Malaga.

It is a strike rate embarrassing supposed marksmen Olivier Giroud and Podolski.

'I didn't expect him to score so many goals with so many matches still to play,' admitted the Arsenal manager.

'He has shown he is a great football
player – and I am grateful he delivered two important goals today. For
me, he is the complete footballer. He has the right spirit; and he
comes to train with a smile and to work hard every day.'

Yesterday, Cazorla provided the perfect remedy to the days of uncertainty following the visit of Bayern Munich.

With just six minutes played, Cazorla cut in from the left and played the ball into the six yard area.

Battle: Theo Walcott and Joe Bennett fight for the ball

Closing in: Arsenal moved one point behind Tottenham with their win over Villa

When the ball was lazily returned to
him, the Spaniard adjusted his compass and drove the ball into the
bottom corner of the net. Wenger rose to his feet to applaud the
goal….and what it meant to a team under siege. Even so, there remained a
nervousness about Arsenal's football.

Their defence is less than solid,
and there is little fluidity in attack. Everyone, it seems, is affected
by the external audit of the squad.

The players have not been deaf to the criticism any more than their manager.

Five minutes after the interval, when
Giroud shot aimlessly wide of the goal after a one-two with Cazorla,
Wilshere screamed his irritation as he felt he was better placed to
score. And Wilshere's frustration at a chance lost was reinforced when
Villa conjured an equaliser on the counter attack in the 69th minute.

Interested viewer: Majority shareholder Stan Kroenke was in the stands at the Emirates

Somehow, Andreas Weimann was allowed to run unimpeded to the outskirts of the penalty area before unleashing a shot from 25 yards that Arsenal goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny will be disappointed he did not keep out.

Villa manager Paul Lambert, whose team have now fallen back into the relegation zone, thought his team had done enough at that moment to secure a point.

'We shouldn't have lost this game,' he lamented. That Villa left London empty-handed was due to a fine, sweeping move with the clock down out.

Wilshere's incisive pass split Villa's defence for Nacho Monreal to cut the ball back into the path of Cazorla.

The Spaniard's finish, low and hard, was reason for the crowd to erupt. And for Wenger to climb to his feet and pump his fists – perhaps imaging the blows were being felt by those who have challenged he is no longer a man to manage Arsenal.